February 13 - March 6, 2004Meta-Salon/Retro-Spective: A Not Too Selective Installation of Paintings from 1980-presentBruce Riley (Chicago, IL)Meta-Salon/Retro-Spective is a mosaic of Riley’s work from roughly the last twenty-four years. The paintings are hung edge-to-edge covering the galleries wall space subjugating the importance of any one piece to the effect of the whole installation.

Social Awareness brings together the work of four artists and one artist collective who, in different ways, question notions surrounding the physical terrain of the individual or community lived experience. Focused on the issues of identity, individual boundaries and self-definitions, Social Awareness attempts to examine through a variety of creative processes the fractures opened between the public and private and raises questions such as: to what extend do we know our own needs and what kind of social restrictions are they associated with?

In our third appearance at The Stray Show, Unit B will showcase traditional and non-traditional drawings by eleven artists from Chicago and around the globe. A few highlights from the show include – the externalization of internal mumbo jumbo on paper from John Mata; the geometric abstraction and verbal puns of Shannon Harrison; the senseless self-indulgent aesthetic lapses of Michael Merck; the idiosyncratic, lonesome graphite narratives of Scott Espeseth; coffee-inspired and deliberately stained works of Ben Gardner; poetic sketches on Ralph Lauren paint chips from Liz Nielsen; milky encaustic wonderlands from Letha Kelsey; random ink and pen stories from the subconscious of Min-Tse Chen; a tarot deck series of abstractly-figurative offerings by E.K. Buckley; the latest in drawings from his boy-becomes-a-man-hood series from Duncan Anderson; and of course Erik Wenzel and his barking dogs.

Marking the anniversary of our second year, Unit B will commemorate the gallery with …and now for something completely different. The artists that participated in Stray with Unit B were invited to show a work other than drawing to exhibit in the gallery. These featured works that fit more into the abnormal scheme of things of these drawing-based artist’s will include painting, sculpture, photography, works on paper and much more.

PAY ATTENTION explores the relationship between the artist and viewer as expressed through works that are highly detailed and that employ meticulous methods of construction. The use of time-consuming methods and media required each of the artists to pay a greater deal of attention to process. This, in turn, requires the audience to view the works not only as a whole but also as the sum of their parts.

July 10 - July 31, 2004Unit B in San Antonio, TXSketches, Scrawls, Scribbles, and Such 3The Wiggle Room2301 South PresaSan Antonio, TX 78210

Unit B hits the road to San Antonio to present the third installation of Sketches, Scrawls, Scribbles, and Such. Ten artists from Chicago and beyond will be on exhibit the month of July, during San Antonio's Contemporary Art Month.

August 13 - September 4, 2004CUT IT OUT!Featured artists: SunTek Chung (Brooklyn, NY), David Criner (Chicago, IL), Casey Loose (Brooklyn, NY), D. Morrison Lyman (Chicago, IL)CUT IT OUT! explores the ways in which contemporary artists are interpreting the stylistic tradition of collage. For each of the artists, collage offers a way to make connections: between the self and others, between cultures, between the influences and the influenced, and between original and new forms. To each of the artists, the reshaping and reappropriation of materials creates a visual link from old to new experiences.

Phantom Limb: The first known description of phantom limb was given by Ambroise Paré, a 16th-century surgeon: "For the patients, long after the amputation is made, say they still feel pain in the amputated part. Of this they complain strongly, a thing worthy of wonder and almost incredible to people who have not experienced this."

The body is contextualized in The Phantom Limb but through a myriad of strategies where representation more often than not functions by way of an absent presence. Scott Lifschutz's drawings, for example, only render the heads of male porno stars leaving the viewer to wonder the cause of desire on their contorted faces. Conversely is Yasira Nun’s self-portrait photograph of her head stuck in a pile of sand, a literal spin on the feminist nurture/nature debate.

October 8 - 30, 2004Jeffrey Earhart: Works Well With OthersWorking collaboratively makes art into a communal process that is not only experienced by multiple viewers, but made by multiple artists. This affords artists a unique opportunity to expand their art making practices to include the ideas and styles of others. A solo exhibition of this nature—between an artist and his friends—displays the work of more than a single vision, but rather a community of artists all working toward an end.

The show will include collaborative multi-media efforts—video, photography, sculpture, and installations by Earhart and each of his friends. These intellectual endeavors will carry many different ideas and philosophies while still maintaining the consistency of a one-person show. The others artists include: Brian Andrews, Blanka Domagalska, Megan Carr, Netochka Nezvanova, Darby Photos, and John Photos.